General Principles 67 



the highest degree beautiful without any accompaniment. 

 But in general it will either be too glittering or too cold to be 

 altogether satisfying without some aid from trees as a fore- 

 ground. It is wise, therefore, to provide for common and 

 usual enjoyment, and to leave extraordinary pleasures to be 

 otherwise obtained. The scene that is most pleasing at all 

 seasons of the year will undoubtedly furnish the largest 

 amount of gratification, and make a habitation most cheerful. 



II. Richness and Polish. — Nothing imparts a greater air 

 of refinement and gentihty to a garden than a certain amount 

 of richness and polish. The first of these may be attained 

 by means of a tasteful selection of plants and flowers, and 

 by the sparing use of appropriate architectural decorations. 

 PoHsh is more a matter that relates to the mechanical execu- 

 tion of the design. Still, it may be advanced a step higher, 

 and applied to the expression as well as the finish. In the 

 outHnes of figures and beds, in the arrangement of plants, 

 and in the shaping of the ground, much may be done to 

 create this delicate grace. Everything straggUng or ragged, 

 all that produces confusion, and as a rule all angularity and 

 harshness are completely opposed to it. Extreme smooth- 

 ness, easiness of transitions, gracefulness of lines, softness of 

 undulation, lightness and elegance of ornament, are some of 

 its leading manifestations. 



Both richness and polish will, to a certain extent, be the 

 result of keeping, as well as attention to matters of detail in 

 the first formation. A place can never possess either, unless 

 the taste shown in the design be carried into the minutest 

 details of the execution, and be maintained by subsequent 

 care and correct feeling. Hard deep edges to the walks and 

 borders, slopes or undulations which unite with the general 

 level by a convex instead of a concave line, and little irregu- 

 larities in the surface of a lawn, are quite incompatible with 



